Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers | April 29, 2025 | Personal Injury
New York City is divided into five boroughs. While each area certainly has unique characteristics, the division is in part for administrative purposes. Each borough corresponds with a county within New York City:
- Bronx County is the Bronx
- Kings County is Brooklyn
- Queens County is Queens
- New York County is Manhattan
- Richmond County is Staten Island
Residents may live in one borough but travel to other boroughs for work, entertainment, shopping, and other activities. You may be concerned about safety issues regardless of where you live or travel in New York City. There has been much debate about which borough is the safest in NYC.
The problem with rating a borough as the safest or most dangerous borough in NYC is that a borough may be composed of many neighborhoods with varying crime rates. A neighborhood with a high crime rate could skew the figures for the entire borough.
Crime Statistics for Each Borough in New York City
Numerous organizations have compiled data to determine the safest borough in New York City. Whether you agree with their conclusions depends on where you live and work in New York City. However, we can examine the crime rates reported by the NYPD for each borough to determine the hard facts about crime rates within each borough.
The Bronx
Reported crimes for the Bronx in 2024 total 30,223. The Bronx is often considered a dangerous section of New York City. However, crime has significantly dropped in the area since the 1990s. In 1990, the NYPD reported 79,825 crimes in the Bronx.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn South’s crime rate for 2024 totaled 14,906. Brooklyn North’s crime rate was 15,847. Therefore, the entire patrolling area for Brooklyn was 30,753. That put Brooklyn just over the Bronx for crimes in 2024.
Manhattan
The crime rate for 2024 in Manhattan South was 17,135, and Manhattan North was 14,252 for a total countywide rate of 31,387. That places Manhattan with more reported crime than the Bronx or Brooklyn.
Queens
Queens South had a reported crime rate of 11,105 in 2024. Crimes reported in Queens North were higher, with 16,782 for 2024. That puts Queens at 27,887 crimes that year, lower than Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn.
Staten Island
Staten Island has the lowest crime rate for 2024, with just 3,453 reported crimes. However, does that make Staten Island the safest borough in New York City?
Let’s Examine How Many People Live in Each of the Five NYC Boroughs
To judge the safest borough, you also need to examine how many people live in each one. According to Census data, Staten Island has the lowest population, with just 490,687 residents out of NYC’s population of over 8.2 million.
Ranking the boroughs for percentage of crime based on the population gives you the following picture:
- The Bronx: 30,223 crimes for 1,356,476 people equals 44.88 crimes per person
- Brooklyn: 30,753 crimes for 2,561,225 people equals 83.28 crimes per person
- Manhattan: 31,387 crimes for 1,597,451 people equals 50.89 crimes per person
- Queens: 27,887 crimes for 2,252,196 people equals 80.76 crimes per person
- Staten Island – 3,453 crimes for 490,687 people equals 142.10 crimes per person
There is much more crime per person in Staten Island than in any other borough when you judge the situation merely on these figures. However, these numbers do not provide a complete picture of the crime rates in the boroughs. There are so many factors that must be taken into account when determining the safety of an area.
Factors that impact an area’s crime rate include poverty, gang activity, economic challenges, police presence, security, etc. You also need to compare the types of crimes. Some neighborhoods may have a higher property crime rate but a much lower violent crime rate.
Living in and Visiting New York City With Safety in Mind
Whether you are a resident or a visitor, it is always important to keep safety in mind. Assault and violence are not the only ways that people are injured in NYC.
Slip and fall accidents, pedestrian accidents, car crashes, dog bites, and numerous other accidents cause injuries and wrongful deaths. Negligence is a more common cause of accidents and injuries than violence or intentional torts.
Always practice safe habits when traveling through the boroughs of NYC. If you are injured, report the accident and seek immediate medical treatment for your injuries. Contact a personal injury lawyer for a free consultation to discuss your options for receiving compensation for damages if someone is responsible for causing your accident.
Contact Our Personal Injury Law Firm in New York City at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers For More Help
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Manhattan, NY, and need legal help, contact our personal injury lawyers at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation. We also serve in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers – New York City Office
100 Wall St 24th Floor
New York, NY 10005
(212) 514-5007
Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers – Bronx Office
1578 Williamsbridge Rd suite 3b
Bronx, NY 10461
(212) 514-5007
(917) 905-2339
Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers – Brooklyn Office
32 Court St #704
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(212) 514-5007
(917) 920-7332
